Endevor
by 7th fire
Summary: My first monster hunter piece because it's a serious personality problem that I must write something on what I've been playing. A piece reflecting on the over zealous nature of humanity and the endless cycle of what is and what could be. A more detailed description inside for the actual arc. M for future violence themes and possible citrus.
1. Chapter 1

A short little ditty to christen my monster hunter montage. Centered in the new world from the perspective of a certain hunter.

The guild isn't a stranger to poaching obviously, sometimes they've had to intervene on behalf of the ecosystem. But what happens when they're not the only ones keeping hunters from doing what they do best? The fifth fleets own azure star will find out first hand that the guild knights aren't the only ones keeping the peace at times. They'll also realize that sometimes the ultimate monster, is merely a man with enough conviction.

Endevor.

Ch1. Prepping for the hunt.

He hated them sometimes, the newcomers. Strangers in this place meant one of two things. Either they were here as fodder for the commissions endless research or they were here to oversee the construction of something else to learn. So it was no surprise he slumped into his seat as the handler went on about a strange stowaway the argosy had dragged back.

"You won't believe this guy. Says he's a hunter but he isn't registered in the guild. Not to mention he turned down the commanders offer for safe sanction. I don't know if he realizes how dangerous this place can be! Is he crazy?!" She just wouldn't shut up, something he'd prided himself for tolerating over the course of the last two years. No he didn't hate her per say but her prattling made it hard to concentrate. Something he desperately needed to do in order to correct the firing coil In his slinger. So after a few moments of prattle he grabbed the closest article of food 'a random fruit he still didn't know the name of' and plopped it into her mouth.

"Geez... eat something will ya and breath." He grumbled continuing to tinker with the broken tool on his arm. Surprisingly effective as it was for switching the topic apparently it wasn't an adequate method of silencing the girl.

"Oh wow this is great!" Her enthusiasm was sometimes infectious but for now he was more annoyed "anyway, seriously pard, we should look into this, if that guy just runs out there unprepared he could get chomped on! And old pickle jho is bound to still be skulking about. We heard the last team had to be carted back to base. This ones particularly nasty."

"Which is why I'm trying to gear up mind you," He sighed as he relinquished his sword. "Coulda brought the ignition blade sure, but this kinda job needs more finesse." Whet stone in hand he commenced to sharpening his blade as the overly talkative handler went about sifting through the gear he'd accumulated,

"You know you should sell off a few of these weapons. I mean you don't need them all right?" She scoffed nonchalantly as she tossed him the shield counterpart to his weapon. "Anyway, so what do you make of this fellow?"

"Don't know don't care. He's probably just another researcher trying to act tough. Remember the biologists? Every one of them get into trouble on a daily due to getting too comfortable. How about the endemic wildlife researcher hmm? She's always in over her head that's why they gave her a ghillie? The only way they're not gonna end up monster food is if we cull the heard. So that's what we do. We hunt monsters, the rest just do what they do." He sighed finally managing to get the many various straps and plates on his armor back into place. He hated the way some of it was bulky and others weren't but that was the price for good gear, and Rathalos plates weren't easy to meld. "Finally. Really hope this holds up better than the pukei armor did. Not gonna lie I'm kinda not a fan of the potions."

"Wow as frequent as you guys chug those things I thought they would've been tasty," had she not ever tried one? Odd that. "But that aside I think you'll be fine. The second fleet masters been cranking out some serious forge Time lately but he's still on his game. So it should hold up."

"Against a devil jho? Now that's some wishful thinking. Grab some traps. We're gonna need them." Sometimes he just wanted to kick back, grab a flagon and ask himself why he even did this job... then she bent over. Suddenly he found himself raking eyes into territory he'd never admit and he forgot what he was even thinking about for a moment.

"Mewoster. You're purrrrusing the view a bit too hard." His trusty Palico knew only two things at times it seemed. One being how to quickly get his attention, the other being his inept ability to be as inconvenient as possible. Both showed now as he had a random bowl bounced off his helmet.

"D-damnit E.J." Shocked into a state of awareness and now a flustered panicked mess he snapped himself back to the hunt. "Alright alright! Hold your fruit!" He ducked as the rather persistent felyne readied a coconut as his next projectile.

"Here we are. Shock traps, and a few pit falls. Really gotta wonder how they make those tools." The ever cheerful girl chimed as she tossed him the odd contraptions in question.

"Ahem trade secret." His face nearly matched the red of his armor now but he kept a decent poker face.

"Wow pard, are you sure you're okay? You're face is all red... are you gonna hurl?" She was either really good at lying or completely oblivious one. "you should try to eat something"

"G-good idea." He normally hated her oblivious nature but for now he'd let it pass as he trudged to the canteens main table hoping a stiff drink and a hearty meal would put him back into the fray quickly. "Sup chef."

"Hey scrawny! Ready to go flex on that over sized pickle? That's what I thought! Get you some gains!" He had to give the over zealous cat some credit he was amusing. Though even through watching the canteen felyne's unusual cooking routines he couldn't shake the prior question his partner had brought up. Sure newcomers were rare, but they weren't unheard of. But the fact that this one came from the old world under the guise of being part of the guild was unsettling. Even more so the apparent lack of concern they had for their own safety as they were offered sanctuary and refused. Rumors or not this seemed to give him a bad feeling in his gut. And much like his partner he'd learned to trust that gut if his very closely.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer. Don't sue I don't own it.

Ch2. Protected.

They dropped at the southern camp in the forest. He recalled the area being too narrow a place for an Anjanath to move freely so he doubted his target would have any better luck. He had one thing going for him already, the aptonoth were out in force, and if the Deviljho was hungry 'which they usually are' it wouldn't pass up a whole herd.

"Alright. Keep the fort, hear anything nasty heading this way fire a flare. I'd rather not have a repeat incident of last time." He sauntered off toward the intended ambush however something felt off. His time as a hunter was short he knew but it afforded him enough know how to tell when something was wrong. It's a Deviljho sure, any hunter worth their salt knew to be apprehensive, but that odd sixth sense of danger prodded him harder than that. A clear warning of imminent demise yet he tarried forward. He was familiar with danger by this point. Since Zorah Magdaros had flattened his hometown he knew better than to rush headlong into disaster but that seemed to be an unavoidable circumstance now.

The clearing was quiet. Almost like it'd been his first day here in the new world. Aptonoth grazing, vigorwasps going about their labor of collecting nectar. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at a glance, but this anxiety that flooded him knew something was terribly amiss. Made more prominent by the visage of a man standing among the herd.

He was well armored. Strange plates of hardened material he couldn't quite place. Was it old world armor or something else entirely? The odd colored silver tinted mail that draped over him seemed like something more woven from ore than scales. Simple in design he imagined this to be more the attire of guild knights than any hunter. It looked expensive, or at very least hard to acquire materials. The strangest looking helm he'd ever laid eyes on adorning this monochromatic weirdo. A beak like protrusion as a face guard that covered the mans nose yet no lower guard, and some sort of plates that hung down the back of his neck, giving him an odd looking hawk like appearance were it not fort the horns coming from its top. They were ornamental sure but it cast a visage of intimidation none the less. Short but thick shafts that jutted backwards from the visor on this strangers helm.

Even more strange however was his weapon of choice. A large arrow head shaped shield in one hand and at first what he assumed a lance until further inspection. The strange silver colored material aside the offhand weapon was one, too short to be any lance he knew of, and two, far too narrow. It was almost a toothpick by comparison to most lances, more similar to a glaive. Then what was his shield for? Hunter equipment was varieties different here sure but he distinctly remembered that the guilds usage of weaponry was very strict. So just what kind of weapon was this thing.

"Another researcher..." the voice that left the stranger sent a chill up his spine. Cold and indifferent. No given distinction from his intended target if he were to be honest. Deep thunderous rumbles both irritated and exasperated were what comprised his vocals. He almost didn't sound human. Though his appearance didn't seem wyverian. "Return to your camp. This place is more dangerous than you realize."

"Hey buddy first off I'm a hunter not a researcher. I can handle myself, second just who the heck are you? You realize there's a deviljho stomping around out here yeah?" He'd thought to try and reason with this one but he was either ignoring the threat really well or was extremely confident one.

"He's the least of your concern. Trust me." Off into the distance he starred and almost seemed to be waiting for something. "You can feel it yes?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" He scratched his head as he noticed the man wandering off, "Hey we're not done here."

"Return to camp hunter, you don't want to be caught in the middle of this." The arrogant gall of this guy! Not that he had any intention of listening, that was until the man went airborne.

He'd seen glaive users sure, something he'd never gotten the hang of was the vault but that kind of hight was unheard of. It didn't even register with him why until something large hit the ground. Very large, and very green. "What the hell!" He barely had time to dodge as his quarry was throw at him now. Skittering to a halt he looked up to see the stranger perched on his once intended target.

"I thought I told you to leave..." he intended to let this fool get eaten now but that sixth sense kicked in again and he rolled to the side barely managing to avoid the sting of the newcomers lance like weapon as he gave it a toss. "That was a warning" it was attached to some kind of chain, that was obviously how he'd retrieved it but how he'd thrown it with such precision was left to question as he still faced away from him. "Interfere again and you chance death." Not that he hadn't received his fair share of threats over the years but this guy obviously meant business. Leaping from his now capsized quarry as the oversized monstrosity returned to the realm of consciousness.

"Oh boy." The ambush was a bust obviously so he'd have to improvise. "Here we go." He'd studied the sword and shield in ways few had sure, but this was a large target, and getting close proved to be at best difficult as he was first send sprawling by the beasts tail. "Damn..." a roll for recovery, the rising strike and now he managed to trip it. A few bought seconds at best as he caught sight of the creature that had tossed a deviljho in the first place.

It didn't look like a wyvern at all. It almost looked human even. If it weren't for its stone like skin, and freakishly large arms. Like a faceless person almost, entirely made of rock. It moved slowly but with purpose, it's enormous hands being dragged behind it as though it were just too much trouble to lift them for the speed. It's eyes were its most discernible feature. Hollowed out spaces where eyes should be that glowed with some strange light that seemed oddly gentle given the obvious death glare he was receiving. Surely something this size wasn't what had tossed his quarry right? That's what he'd thought anyway. As the minuscule monster lifted one of its overly large hands he felt the ground move, and that sixth sense forced him into a sprint to dive from the swipe.

It'd missed, barely. The deviljho however wasn't so lucky as the usually much dominant predator was sent sprawling from the stone oddities slap. He was no stranger to slow moving powerhouses true but this thing seemed almost exasperated more than angry. Like it was swatting away an annoying fly as it laid into the great green Goliath. Obviously it wasn't constructed of normal stones as bites and such from the larger creature seemed useless to even so much as scratch it. It also seemed rathe well balanced for something with seemingly a poor center of gravity. If it had legs he couldn't tell, as the rock like carapace over it seemed to form some conical shape over its body from the neck down. Though it did seem to waddle somewhat, hinting that it's weight was either poorly supported or very extreme one. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage?

Seeing this odd looking thing smacking around the world eater was almost amusing, till it turned on him. Tossing a good sized rock in his direction he assumed at this point the fight was on. A dodge to the left to miss the rock then the lunge. He took a wild swing to gauge the target, only to bounce off its hardened hide. "Damn... that's some thick armor." He didn't even move it, it was like hitting some kind of metal more than any rock, regardless it's appearance. So impressed was he by the creatures defensive capability he forgot to mind his current oversized prey. The deviljho seemed to be agitated now, firing a blast of its pent up dragon energy which immediately caught him off guard. The shield saved him this time, but it wouldn't hold up to much of this kind of treatment. So he took to the offensive. The rock monster had to have a weak point right? There had to be somewhere to hit it that would cause damage. But it seemed to tank everything thrown at it.

"Enough..." the strangers voice once again invaded his ears as a flash of light startled both the rock based beast and his oversized pickle in the process. It wasn't as though it'd blinded him no but he didn't have time to recover to see what happened. By the time he'd recovered he noticed the once hungry predator now toppled again, and this time eerily still. The stranger now landed beside him and just as quickly as he'd hit the ground the blade of his weapon met the hunters neck. "This is your last warning... go back to your camp."

"Hey just hold on a moment. Just what the hell is that thing and who the hell are you." He growled though held his hands up in surrender.

"It is protected that's all you need to know." With that he sheathed his strange looking spear and sauntered off, leaving the other to question one what, had just taken place, and two, where'd the rock monster go? It'd simply vanished

"Hey... damnit..." he shook his head in frustration before looking back to his prior prey. "Just who the hell is this guy? And just what the hell kinda weapon is that? Better tell the commander." He felt cheated by the stranger but, hey a kills a kill right? So he took the carve and headed back to camp with more questions now than when he'd left.


End file.
